The
Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) (formerly
known as the Metro-Dade Police Department (1981–1997), Dade County
Public Safety Department (1957-1981) and the Dade County Sheriff's
Office (1836–1957)) is a full service metropolitan police department serving
Miami-Dade
County
's unincorporated areas, although they have lenient
mutual aid agreements with other incorporated municipalities, most often the City of Miami Police
Department. The MDPD is the largest police department in
the Southeastern United States, with approximately 4,500 employees.
The Department is still often referred by its former name, the
Metro-Dade Police or simply
Metro. Miami-Dade
Police officers are easily identified by their taupe/brown colored
uniforms. Miami-Dade Police vehicles are identified by their green
and white livery. MDPD officers carry silver badges, while officers
with the ranks of sergeant and above carry gold badges.
The MDPD operates out of nine district stations throughout
Miami-Dade County and several specialized bureaus. The MDPD is
internationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for
Law Enforcement Agencies (
CALEA), as well as at the state level by the
Florida Commission for Law Enforcement Accreditation (
CFA). The current director of the department is Robert
Parker,
[310795] who succeeded
Carlos Alvarez, the current mayor of
Miami-Dade County.
The Department's headquarters are located in
Doral,
Florida
.
History
The Dade County Sheriff's
Office was created in 1836 to serve the newly created
County of
Dade, which originally consisted of the area comprised
by thepresent-day counties of Miami-Dade
, Broward, Palm
Beach
and Martin
. In the early years, the entire area was
policed by as few as three deputies on horseback, and Dade’s
sheriffs were appointed by the Governor. In 1899, the office of the
sheriff became an elected position. By 1950, the jurisdiction area
had been reduced to its present size of approximately 2,139 square
miles.
In 1957, the metropolitan form of government was established, and
the
Dade County Sheriff's'Office was subsequently renamed
the
Public Safety Department. The Public Safety
Department’s organizational structure, as determined by the
Metropolitan Charter, included responsibility for police and fire
protection, the jail and stockade, civil defense, animal control,
and motor vehicle inspection.
In 1960, the Public Safety Department also
assumed responsibility for police operations at the Port of Miami
and Miami International Airport
.By 1966, the Public Safety Department had
approximately 850 sworn officers in its ranks. Thatyear a
long-standing controversy over the selection/election procedure for
choosing a countysheriff was resolved by voter mandate.
Subsequently, non-elected sheriffs were appointed by theCounty
Manager as "
Director of the Public Safety Department and
Sheriff of Metropolitan DadeCounty.
"
In 1973, the responsibility for running the County’s jails was
transferred to the newly createdDepartment of Corrections and
Rehabilitation. By that year, the Public Safety Department hadalso
been divested of all other non-police responsibilities in order to
concentrate entirely on lawenforcement services. In July 1981, the
Public Safety Department was renamed the
Metro-Dade Police
Department. In September 1997, voters decided to change the
jurisdiction’s name to
Miami-Dade County
. In December of the same year, the
Metro-Dade Police Department wasrenamed the
Miami-Dade Police Department.
On
September 13,
2007 four Miami-Dade Police Department officers were
shot by a subject with an
AK-47, resulting in
the death of one officer, Jose Somohano. Another officer suffered a
serious leg injury. The suspect, Shawn Sherwin Labeet, fled the
scene but was found in an apartment complex later that day. He was
cornered in a poolhouse bathroom by members of Miami-Dade Police
Special Response Team (equivalent to
SWAT), and
was shot and killed when he refused to drop a pistol he was
holding.
Organization
The new MDPD Ford Crown Victoria
Police Interceptor design.
MDPD provide law enforcement services to eight districts stations
throughout Miami Dade County:
- Northwest Station (1)
- Northside Station (2)
- Midwest Station (3)
- South District Station (4)
- Kendall Station (5)
- Intracoastal Station (6)
- Airport District Station (7)
- Hammocks Station (8)
-Agricultural Patrol Section
Contracted Municipalities
- Town of Miami Lakes(1)
- Village of Palmetto Bay(4)
- Town of Cutler Bay(4)
Demographics
Breakdown of the makeup of the rank and file of MDPD
- Male: 78%
- Female: 22%
- White: 43%
- Hispanic: 39%
- African-American/Black: 18%
Ranks and Insignia
- Director/Sheriff - 4 gold stars
- Assistant Director - 3 gold stars
- Division Chief - 2 gold stars
- Major - gold oak leaves
- Commander - 2 gold bars with diagonal black stripes
- Captain - 2 gold bars
- First Lieutenant - 1 silver bar
- Supervisor - 1 gold bar with diagonal black stripe
- Lieutenant - 1 gold bar
- Master Sergeant - 3 gold metal chevrons over 3 gold metal
rockers
- Sergeant - 3 silver chevrons
- Corporal - 2 silver chevrons
- Police Officer - no rank insignia
All rank insignia are worn on the collars of the shirt, except for
Sergeant and Corporal, which are worn on each sleeve, below the
department patch.
Specialized units
- Administrative Unit
- Arson Unit
- Auto Theft Unit
- Aviation Unit
- Bomb Squad
- Citizens Volunteer Program
- Civil Process
- Communications Bureau
- Community Affairs Bureau
- Crime Scene Investigation
- Crime Stoppers - (305)
471-TIPS
- Critical Incident Logistics Section
- DARE
- Economic Crimes
- General Investigations
- Homeland Security
- Homicide Unit
- Internal Affairs
- Intelligence Bureau
- K-9
- Marine Patrol
- Media Relations Bureau
- Motorcycle Unit
- Mounted Patrol Unit
- Personnel Management Bureau
- Police Legal Bureau
- Public Corruption Investigations Bureau
- Robbery
- Sexual Crimes Bureau
- Special Patrol Bureau
- Special Response Team (SRT)
- Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT)
- Training Bureau
- Underwater Recovery Unit
- Vice
In Popular Culture
Miami-Dade Police is the law enforcement agency depicted in the
television shows, films, and video games:
See also
References
- Law Enforcement Management and Administrative
Statistics, 2000: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with
100 or More Officers
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search